As a result, a considerable part of my second winter as senator was devoted to the work of this special committee in the city of New York. We held a sort of court, had with us the sergeant-at-arms, were empowered to send for persons and papers, summoned large numbers of witnesses, and brought to view a state of things even worse than anything any of us had suspected.
Against the citizens' committee, headed by Judge Whiting and Mr. Eaton, Boole, aided by a most successful Tammany lawyer of the old sort, John Graham, fought with desperation. In order to disarm his assailants as far as possible, he brought before the committee a number of his ``health officers'' and ``sanitary inspectors,''
whom he evidently thought best qualified to pass muster;but as one after another was examined and cross-examined, neither the cunning of Boole nor the skill of Mr.
Graham could prevent the revelation of their utter unfitness.
In the testimony of one of them the whole monstrous absurdity culminated. Judge Whiting examining him before the commission with reference to a case of small-pox which had occurred within his district, and to which, as health officer it was his duty to give attention, and asking him if he remembered the case, witness answered that he did. The following dialogue then ensued:
Q. Did you visit this sick person?
A. No, sir.
Q. Why did you not?
A. For the same reason that you would not.
Q. What was that reason?
A. I did n't want to catch the disease myself.
Q. Did the family have any sort of medical aid?
A. Yes.
Q. From whom did they have it?
A. From themselves; they was ``highjinnicks'' (hygienics).
Q. What do you mean by ``highjinnicks''?
A. I mean persons who doctor themselves.
After other answers of a similar sort the witness departed; but for some days afterward Judge Whiting edified the court, in his examination of Boole's health officers and inspectors, by finally asking each one whether he had any ``highjinnicks'' in his health district. Some answered that they had them somewhat; some thought that they had them ``pretty bad,'' others thought that there was ``not much of it,'' others claimed that they were ``quite serious''; and, finally, in the examination of a certain health officer who was very anxious to show that he had done his best, there occurred the following dialogue which brought down the house:
Q. (By Judge Whiting.) Mr. Health Officer, have you had any ``highjinnicks'' in your district?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Much?
A. Yes, sir, quite a good deal.
Q. Have you done anything in regard to them?
A. Yes, sir; I have done all that I could.
Q. Witness, now, on your oath, do you know what the word ``highjinnicks'' means?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What does it mean?
A. It means the bad smells that arise from standing water.
At this the court was dissolved in laughter, but Mr.
Graham made the best that he could of it by the following questions and answers:
Q. Witness, have you ever learned Greek?
A. No, sir.
Q. Can you speak Greek?
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you understand Greek?
A. No, sir.
``Then you may stand down.''
The examination was long and complicated, so that with various departments to be examined there was no time to make a report before the close of the session, and the whole matter had to go over until the newly elected senate came into office the following year.
Shortly after the legislature had adjourned I visited the city of New York, and on arriving took up the evening paper which, more than any other, has always been supposed to represent the best sentiment of the city;--the ``New York Evening Post.'' The first article on which my eye fell was entitled ``The New York Senate Trifling,''
and the article went on to say that the Senate of the State had wasted its time, had practically done nothing for the city, had neglected its interests, had paid no attention to its demands, and the like. That struck me as ungrateful, for during the whole session we had worked early and late on questions relating to the city, had thwarted scores of evil schemes, and in some cases, I fear, had sacrificed the interests of the State at large to those of the city. Thus there dawned on me a knowledge of the reward which faithful legislators are likely to obtain.
Another of these city questions also showed the sort of work to be done in this thankless protection of the metropolis. During one of the sessions there had appeared in the lobby an excellent man, Dr. Levi Silliman Ives, formerly Protestant Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina, who, having been converted to Roman Catholicism, had become a layman and head of a protectory for Catholic children. With him came a number of others of his way of thinking, and a most determined effort was made to pass a bill sanctioning a gift of one half of the great property known as Ward's Island, adjacent to the city of New York, to this Roman Catholic institution.
I had strong sympathy with the men who carried on the protectory, and was quite willing to go as far as possible in aiding them, but was opposed to voting such a vast landed property belonging to the city into the hands of any church, and I fought the bill at all stages.
In committee of the whole, and at first reading, priestly influence led a majority to vote for it, but at last, despite all the efforts of Tammany Hall, it was defeated.
